Saint John Community Church

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our Advent/Christmas series "Signs."

The birth of Jesus meant many things to many people when it happened and continues to do so today.  How do you respond?

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our Advent/Christmas series "Signs."

The Prophet Isaiah brings “good news of great joy” about the coming Messiah seven hundred years before the Messiah comes.  Isaiah prophesies that a child will be born and upon his shoulders will be the mantle of a brand-new Kingdom.  You and I are citizens of that Kingdom not because of what we have done or what we have earned, but by the very grace of God.  God has so blessed us in Jesus, which is a fact we are keenly aware of this season of the year. 

Isaiah is quick to offer names for the One who is to come.  He will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.”  These are the names of a king of a different sort, but then again that is who Jesus is.  God has sent his Son to lend direction, give power, offer provision, and complete our lives with an overwhelming sense of peace.  Jesus does these things and so much more. 

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our Advent/Christmas series "Signs."

Leadership is defined in so many ways. When we walk into bookshops, browse seminars and trainings, we see hundreds upon hundreds of options – everyone wants guidance on how to be better leaders.

Judah was in desperate need of good leadership, and Isaiah was just the man to point them to the leader this world needed, and still needs. The leader of which he prophesied was going to show this world a type of leadership that would shake, jolt, and change it forever. It is a leadership we all need to aspire to everyday.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our Advent series "Signs."

God’s glory is all around us and approaches us in surprising ways.  We look for his glory a bit more this season of the year.  We are more alert to his work.  We are more open to his movement in our lives.  In spite of all that works to draw us away, we seek to stay focused on him. 

The glory of the Lord surrounded all that took place in and around the birth of Jesus.  The glory of the Lord shone brightly around the shepherds as they tended their flocks by night.  God’s glory had certainly gotten their attention and drew them to the stable where Christ was born.  Once there the heavenly host was heard singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”   Because God’s glory intersected everyday life as it did, those involved couldn’t help but return glory God’s way.  For us, being touched by the glory of God always leads to giving God glory for the great things he has done, particularly when it comes to the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ.

The prophet Isaiah also talked about the glory of God.  It was one of the signs that pointed to the great things God was about to do.  Speaking to a people in exile, the prophet spoke of a day of redemption where all concerned would see “the glory of the Lord.”  We live in a day of redemption as well, and the glory of the Lord is evident,  Our Redeemer, Christ our Lord, is at work in our lives. 

Pastor Tom Grieb begins our new series "Signs."

We are always looking for signs of God’s good work in everyday life.  While the evidence of that work is all around us, we don’t always notice it.  That is particularly true during Advent and Christmas.  There is so much that vies for our attention this season of the year that we are all too easily drawn to other things.  Nevertheless, we’d do well to look for signs of God’s good work and not let the swirl of the things around us divert our attention.   

All along God has provided signs that have pointed his people to the very things he wanted to accomplish.  Often those signs were delivered by his prophets, including Isaiah.  Isaiah was quick to look ahead and envision a day when God would act in a powerful way by sending the Messiah into the life of the world.  Isaiah, of all the prophets, was clear about God’s every desire to send his Son, the Prince of Peace.

As we move into Advent, we will be taking a close look at selected passages from Isaiah that have for centuries been recognized as pointing to the coming Messiah and have been understood as signs of God’s will for his creation.   This week we will be studying one of those passages, Isaiah 2:1-5.  It very clearly offers a vision of God’s Kingdom under the rule of the Messiah and how that rule will be one of peace.  

Pastor Ashlee Adkins concludes our series "The Grace of Giving.

Paul makes it very clear that generosity leads to two things – meeting needs and thanksgivings to God. He calls on us to be obedient in our generosity because it’s a necessity of being a Christian and of being a reflection of Jesus through our actions and our words.

But in order for those needs to be met and for thanksgivings to be offered to God, we first have to be generous with our time, our talents, and our resources. Even though we are in the midst of the holiday season, a time to be grateful and generous, it can also be tough to do both. But we have to, now and each day.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "The Grace of Giving."

You have heard the expression, “You reap what you sow.”  That is certainly true for those in agriculture.  If a farmer doesn’t sow, then that farmer won’t have much of a crop.  In everyday life, if we sow seeds of discontent, anger, and malice, then the return will be the same.  Divisions will abound and hatred will prevail.  On the other hand, if we sow seeds of love, harmony, and peace, then those things will begin to take root. 

The adage, “you reap what you sow” holds true when it comes to giving.  When we sow the seeds of generosity, good things begin to happen.  Not only are others helped and supported, but our hearts are warmed with the knowledge that we have engaged in the privilege of making a difference.  When we give generously to the ministry of the church, we know that the return is many-fold.  In a word, God’s Kingdom is furthered.  When we sow generously the potential for a great harvest is real, and like giving in other ways, our hearts will be warmed.  When we give to the things of God’s Kingdom our focus becomes less on ourselves and more so on God.  We find ourselves freed from the hold of our possessions, which become wholly dedicated to God in response to his many blessings.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "The Grace of Giving."

Giving is all about want to.  Willingness plays an important role whenever we give.  Getting to the root of why we give and the reason for our “want to” rests with Christ.  While there are all sorts of reasons people give, Jesus is the real reason for our giving.  If you think about it, he was the one who went to great lengths to give.  He went so far as to give his own life so we might live as God would want us to live, in relationship with him.  In response to that we can’t help but give. 

Paul, in talking about such things in II Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”  In light of that, it becomes quite clear that we simply can’t out give God.  Through Christ, God not only offers new life now, but eternal life later.

Pastor Tom Grieb kicks off our new series "The Grace of Giving."

God’s blessings are abundant.  We share in those blessings all the time.  God’s provisions are many.  He cares for our every need.  All of this is a matter of grace.  The free gift of his amazing grace is an expression of love that has profound affect upon us.  We are overwhelmed by his love and because of that find ourselves at a much better place to return that love not only God’s way, but toward others.  As God gives and gives and gives again, we can’t help but turn and give as well.   This too is a matter of grace.  The grace of giving is a privilege indeed.

In II Corinthians 8:1-7 we learn of the church in Macedonia that counted giving as a real privilege.  In spite of the trials they were facing, their joy overflowed and welled up in “rich generosity.”  As Paul made his rounds to the various churches he had started, he collected an offering for the saints in Jerusalem.  The Macedonian Church pleaded for the opportunity to give to that offering.  They not only wanted to give, but they needed to give as an expression of their deep and abiding love for the Lord. 

Pastor Ashlee Adkins concludes our series "Well-Connected."

We all know how typical superhero movies go: there’s a villain, a superhero,  maybe a couple of good Samaritans that somehow get into the mix; and the villain is defeated by the superhero along with the good Samaritans. There are countless villains in countless stories, and in God’s story, it’s no different. There is a villain – a villain I like to call ‘the enemy.”

The enemy has various forms and, while mysterious and hard for us to understand, is powerless against God. But as humans we struggle against the enemy, so God gives us an armor of protection.  Through his empowerment and strength, we use it to stand against the enemy. We don’t use this armor against one another, but against the devil’s wiles and the enemy to protect, to ensure we reflect the love of God into the world, and to live as though we know the enemy has been defeated by the great King of Kings.